Greetings to all the world wide web out there! I apologize for my prolonged absence and wish to say that no, I did not abandon my blog at all. I was just too freakin' busy to write a single syllable. And, when I say busy, I am not kidding!
The double shifts after my return with Germany were hard. Very hard. I was completely exhausted and still have back and neck pain due to the whole fiasco. And, believe me, early mornings at an airport ARE a fiasco! First of all, you get all the people who missed their flights the previous night flooding your counter with bogus excuses and, most often, tears and very overweight luggage. Then, you get everyone who has decided that they would fly out to Cuba lining up for miles inside the airport so you can barely breathe. And, as those flights are usually around 5 am, you are working very hard, very, very, brutally early.
I am sorry if I sound snarky. I do not mean to. I am just soooooooo tired. I am afraid that the black rims under my eyes have become permanent by now. I have given up on the idea of make-up and concealer. No matter what I try, I look like death warmed up. I think I should star as the next victim on a CSI episode.
... And I know I promised many anecdotes from the airport at the beginning of the summer. Truth be told, there are so many by now that I no longer know which ones to tell. One thing can be said for sure, passengers always forget to pack their brains. They left it in some corner at home and arrive at the airport illiterate, without a sense of direction or logic. It is incredible how often you have to repeat yourself sometimes. Take one example: we have these huge, four kilo boxes made of sturdy grey plastic piled up in columns all around the check-in area. We ask passengers to place soft fabric bags or backpacks (or any other kind of bag that might get damaged from being thrown down a bagage chute) to place their bags in these boxes to prevent snagging on the equipement as well as tearing and damaging of the bags. And every time you point at the pile of boxes and ask with your brightest smile: "Could you please fetch me one of those big grey plastic boxes back there. I need you to put your bag in it," you get the dumbest responses. "What, my passport?" No, the plastic box! Were you not listening? "Something wrong with my carry-on?" No! I said the BOXES behind you! "What is behind me?" Turn around and look at where I am pointing in the name of God! And then, when you indadvertantly sigh, you get a nightmarish reaction out of a passenger: "Why are you sighing? Did you hear her sigh? She has no right to sigh! You have no right to sigh! We are passengers too and you owe us your respect! I am never traveling with you again! You are so rude!" (I swear, around 6:30 pm, just before my break, that was exactly the sort of character who showed up before my counter!).
I know I must sound exhasperated, but I am mostly just tired. I still love my job. It is better than a desk job anyday! And I get to practice my Japanese. And my colleagues are absolutely awesome! But the shifts are a bummer. And the more tired you get, the more passengers can get on your nerves. But I am good. It is a lot of fun to exchange passenger stories with other colleagues. The stories that come out can be epic! It is wonderful.
But my tiredness mostly ensues from a harsh back-to-school week. I am starting my final year of my BA in English Literature, East Asian Studies and Theatre and Drama. Guess what, my classes this year are, for the most part, uninteresting and mostly filler. Basically what I am missing to complete my degree. I am stressed out about it being the end of my degree. I do not want to be done with school yet. I enjoy it far too much! I will even endure some classes for the sake of staying in school! For intance, one of my classes, a rather dreary class called Mass Culture and Postwar Japan, is given in the Birks Chapel Building. It is such a gorgeous building! Every time I walk up the stairs to my class, I feel like a Renaissance princess due to the architecture and dark stained wood-panelled walls. This is why I am keeping this class.
...
Wow, I was on a roll there. Anyways, I am very tired because, at this point, I have to balance school with work. And that sucks big time! Because I go to school, all day, Monday through Thursday and then I work Friday to Sunday, three full-time shifts. Weekends and outings? Sorry, not happening. The workload is taking its toll on me. And it is a very harsh one.
On the other hand, I spent my one day off with my mum, last week. We had a lot of fun and I finally went to get the massage I had received for Christmas (my mum had given me a gift certificate). The massage was great! But I do believe I need another one already... And my mum was at the airport today, traveling to Deer Lake (wherever that is). It made me very happy to see her. I think she misses me too...
And, speaking of mum, her birthday is coming up soon. Too soon... I work (or have school) almost every day leading up to her 50th birthday... What shall I do? Suggestions???
...
Okay, this is turning into a much more cock-and-bull post than I expected and/or planned to write. It is not too late to give up on my post and go read a chapter or two from Tristram Shandy. It might make more sense than my late-night blog ramblings.
Anyways, Michael is back in the country. It makes me deliriously happy. I have missed him so much! It feels so good to have him back (even though the bastard gave me his cold!). I like having him in bed beside me. He is the best teddy bear ever! And I have less weird dreams and nightmares with him around. Must be love, don't you think? *wink*
This is where this post's title comes into play. I hope this story will at least make you smile.
So, I was working the day Michael came back. I offered him the couch in our "quiet" staff room to sleep on until my shift finished and then we went back together to the apartment. I was really happy to have him back. So much so, I barely slept. But, during the time I spent awake, Michael was out like a burned out cellar light.
However, he must have gotten up at some point during the night. Why? Because, when I woke up, happy and bubbly at the idea to have him back, and turned to look at him and wish him a "good morning," words failed me. Instead of "good morning," I blurted out: "Why are you wearing my kimono?" Big, round staring eyes. Michael was casually wearing my pink and gold flowery kimono. I cannot describe the sight. But it was epic in its hilarity. A scruffy and unshaven man, like Michael, lying comfortably in bed in what was obviously a woman's garment... It turns out Michael woke up at some point and grabbed what he thought was his shirt. Obviously, the man has poor eyesight in the dark! (Sorry Michael!) It was very funny, but maybe you had to be there to get it.
Other than that, I have barely had time to spend with Michael because the two of us were back to the grindstone as soon as he touched ground. Work and school for the two of us. It is a pain. I miss him despite sleeping at his side every night. I barely get to see him for an hour when I wake up. He is at work when I come home. I am currently waiting up for him.
And, in completely other news, I finished three Diana Wynne Jones books in the past two weeks. And I bought a brand-new Kathy Reichs novel, as I had nothing new to read. Also, I finally got to do a paid shoot and it turned out pretty darned well, I should think. Here is the link: http://www.productionsmarcboucher.com/page2.html The photographer really enjoyed working with me. I enjoyed it too. We spent the evening on a street in the Old Port of Montreal. Unable to find the owner of an old Dodge we had found parked by the sidewalk, we decided to shoot around the car anyway, waiting for a red light so the photographer could stand in the intersection and shoot as I posed for him...
... And here I thought I had another thread of thought to follow, but I lost it at some point through my ramblings. Oh, well. Better luck next time. The good news is, with the new start of term, I will probably be blogging a lot more (probably during some dull classes, tee hee), and thus my updates will be more cohesive and will actually make sense.
I send my love to all! Even grouchy passengers!
Showing posts with label Book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book. Show all posts
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
In which there was a lot of injuries
Hello all! I do not have all that much to say/update/blog on today, unfortunately. However, I felt the need to keep my readers up to date on my comings and goings and odd musings (especially my favourite reader, who is currently halfway across the world! ^_^ )
Anyways. Today was ridiculous. I do not think I have ever hurt myself THAT often in less than 24 hours. It all started this morning. As you are all aware, the front steps are no longer there (though this evening, when coming home from work, I happily discovered the skeleton of a new staircase being erected! Hopefully it will be completed by tomorrow and I can use the normal way out again!) and I have had to use the back door, in other words the emergency exit, to get out of my apartment and safely down to ground level. Now, the issue is that there is a fence that keeps our backyard "safe". My roommate and I have a huge issue with said fence... It is locked! We both have the key to the lock, and it IS the correct key (for we compared it with that of our neighbours), however, for some unfathomable reason, it simply does not work. For either of us. So, lately, Vanessa and I have taken to acting like eels of the coast of Canada and just squeezing ourselves through the gap in between the two fence "gates". I must say, we are both very good at that... I am starting to think we may both share some genes with invertebrates.
Anyhow, for some reason, the chain holding the two gate "doors" together was much tighter than usual this morning. Indeed, I could not squeeze through! Or, rather, my body could, but my bloody head could not! I wish I was not so smart! A smaller brain would have been convenient (just kidding here - I am not that pompous... that I know of...) But I certainly did wish that my skull had not fused together yet! Stupid ossification! I was nearly stuck in that fence!! However, after lots of pulling and painful yanks, I got my head out and went to work, temples throbbing like someone had whacked them with a hammer.
I wish the headache had been the worst consequence of my squeeze-through mishap, but there was more. I really hurt my right ear squeezing through that fence. At first I thought it was nothing. My upper ear-lobe was just throbbing and smarting right after the event... which would be consistent with some bruising obtained as I pulled my head through the fence. There were no cuts, no blood, nothing to worry about... so I ignored it. However, that ear has been hurting all bloody day! For nearly 20 hours now, my ear has been smarting. It is not extremely painful, but I cannot say that it is not annoying! I am getting tired of this painful throbbing!! And after having people look at the upper lobe of my ear, they keep saying it looks very red... either bruised or inflamed. I am praying it is a bruise. Because if there is damage to the cartilage, nothing can be done to repair it (cartilage has no blood vessels... I looked it up)... stupid cartilage!
Anyways, now I am trying to figure out a way to sleep without ending up on that ear and making it hurt more.
The day is not over yet, though. The hurts got worse. First off, I have managed to keep my paper-cut record pretty low since starting work for AC. After the first week of work, during which I paper-cut about every square millimeter of my hand, I managed to stay relatively paper-cut free. However, today, I managed to achieve seven paper cuts in four hours alone. It was starting to irk me enormously.
And for the last injury... a passenger showed up with two bags. One of 20 kilos, and one of 36 kilos... DO THEY NOT READ THE RULES?! No single airline would accept that weight! It is 32 kg maximum, even if you pay a fortune!! If you have something that exceeds that weight, I can only say a) Cargo; or b) ship it! Do not put it on a passenger plane! Anyways, the lady wanted help lugging this Godzilla of a luggage... And I promptly somehow screwed up my shoulder while helping her. That will teach me to be nice! I have no idea what I did, all I know it that the lower tip of my left shoulder blade is starting to make me swear and curse a lot. It hurts. I imagine that if someone had lodged a knife in my back, between my bones at that exact spot, it would feel the same. Pleasant. Very pleasant.
And now... in order to no longer sound so frustrated about the pain... (sorry about that... but I ache all over... it does kind of piss me off!)
I had a wonderful two days off with my mum. We did not do much, only hang out together and watch some prime-time tv shows (notably the Mentalist), but it felt really good. It was nice to be back at home. I miss the house I grew up in. I also missed my mum. It was really good to see her. I am happy that her chemo is over soon! And for those who are on facebook, I swear that my mum makes the best Spätzle in the world! I even got some for lunch the next morning!
And that is about it for updates. You may want to know that I have been reading a lot of late. I have been drinking more than the daily recomended dose of water in books in the last three days. I love reading... and I had forgotten the joy of it. I have been reading Katy Reichs novels... you know, the ones that inspired the tv show Bones? I love that show. I have been rewatching some episodes online (picking the ones with the most appealing titles) and I have been quite enjoying myself. It is quite the well written show, especially for geeks. And the book is REALLY good! And, speaking of books, the book on how to write fantasy re-appeared... In the KITCHEN! I do not know what it was doing there, as I avoid the kitchen like plague... Must be the wormhole.
Finally, I am sorry to announce that Michael's flowers have dried out. They have lasted about a week, though, which makes me happy. I am just sad to see that their beauty has wilted. Strangely enough, though, they have dried out rather than simply died. That struck me as strange, seeing as I have been changing their water every second day... Oh well... I am not someone who knows much about botanics anyways... It is just unfortunate. I loved those flowers, they meant a lot to me. The first proper bouquet Michael has given me... *sigh*
Anyways - I am off to bed now! I cannot believe how much I have been rambling!
Oh, and P.S. Michael's mum suggested I write about the disappearing objects in my room. Except that I should make it faeries. I like faeries. I think I will take her up on the idea! Look for more developpements on that soon! ;-D
Anyways. Today was ridiculous. I do not think I have ever hurt myself THAT often in less than 24 hours. It all started this morning. As you are all aware, the front steps are no longer there (though this evening, when coming home from work, I happily discovered the skeleton of a new staircase being erected! Hopefully it will be completed by tomorrow and I can use the normal way out again!) and I have had to use the back door, in other words the emergency exit, to get out of my apartment and safely down to ground level. Now, the issue is that there is a fence that keeps our backyard "safe". My roommate and I have a huge issue with said fence... It is locked! We both have the key to the lock, and it IS the correct key (for we compared it with that of our neighbours), however, for some unfathomable reason, it simply does not work. For either of us. So, lately, Vanessa and I have taken to acting like eels of the coast of Canada and just squeezing ourselves through the gap in between the two fence "gates". I must say, we are both very good at that... I am starting to think we may both share some genes with invertebrates.
Anyhow, for some reason, the chain holding the two gate "doors" together was much tighter than usual this morning. Indeed, I could not squeeze through! Or, rather, my body could, but my bloody head could not! I wish I was not so smart! A smaller brain would have been convenient (just kidding here - I am not that pompous... that I know of...) But I certainly did wish that my skull had not fused together yet! Stupid ossification! I was nearly stuck in that fence!! However, after lots of pulling and painful yanks, I got my head out and went to work, temples throbbing like someone had whacked them with a hammer.
I wish the headache had been the worst consequence of my squeeze-through mishap, but there was more. I really hurt my right ear squeezing through that fence. At first I thought it was nothing. My upper ear-lobe was just throbbing and smarting right after the event... which would be consistent with some bruising obtained as I pulled my head through the fence. There were no cuts, no blood, nothing to worry about... so I ignored it. However, that ear has been hurting all bloody day! For nearly 20 hours now, my ear has been smarting. It is not extremely painful, but I cannot say that it is not annoying! I am getting tired of this painful throbbing!! And after having people look at the upper lobe of my ear, they keep saying it looks very red... either bruised or inflamed. I am praying it is a bruise. Because if there is damage to the cartilage, nothing can be done to repair it (cartilage has no blood vessels... I looked it up)... stupid cartilage!
Anyways, now I am trying to figure out a way to sleep without ending up on that ear and making it hurt more.
The day is not over yet, though. The hurts got worse. First off, I have managed to keep my paper-cut record pretty low since starting work for AC. After the first week of work, during which I paper-cut about every square millimeter of my hand, I managed to stay relatively paper-cut free. However, today, I managed to achieve seven paper cuts in four hours alone. It was starting to irk me enormously.
And for the last injury... a passenger showed up with two bags. One of 20 kilos, and one of 36 kilos... DO THEY NOT READ THE RULES?! No single airline would accept that weight! It is 32 kg maximum, even if you pay a fortune!! If you have something that exceeds that weight, I can only say a) Cargo; or b) ship it! Do not put it on a passenger plane! Anyways, the lady wanted help lugging this Godzilla of a luggage... And I promptly somehow screwed up my shoulder while helping her. That will teach me to be nice! I have no idea what I did, all I know it that the lower tip of my left shoulder blade is starting to make me swear and curse a lot. It hurts. I imagine that if someone had lodged a knife in my back, between my bones at that exact spot, it would feel the same. Pleasant. Very pleasant.
And now... in order to no longer sound so frustrated about the pain... (sorry about that... but I ache all over... it does kind of piss me off!)
I had a wonderful two days off with my mum. We did not do much, only hang out together and watch some prime-time tv shows (notably the Mentalist), but it felt really good. It was nice to be back at home. I miss the house I grew up in. I also missed my mum. It was really good to see her. I am happy that her chemo is over soon! And for those who are on facebook, I swear that my mum makes the best Spätzle in the world! I even got some for lunch the next morning!
And that is about it for updates. You may want to know that I have been reading a lot of late. I have been drinking more than the daily recomended dose of water in books in the last three days. I love reading... and I had forgotten the joy of it. I have been reading Katy Reichs novels... you know, the ones that inspired the tv show Bones? I love that show. I have been rewatching some episodes online (picking the ones with the most appealing titles) and I have been quite enjoying myself. It is quite the well written show, especially for geeks. And the book is REALLY good! And, speaking of books, the book on how to write fantasy re-appeared... In the KITCHEN! I do not know what it was doing there, as I avoid the kitchen like plague... Must be the wormhole.
Finally, I am sorry to announce that Michael's flowers have dried out. They have lasted about a week, though, which makes me happy. I am just sad to see that their beauty has wilted. Strangely enough, though, they have dried out rather than simply died. That struck me as strange, seeing as I have been changing their water every second day... Oh well... I am not someone who knows much about botanics anyways... It is just unfortunate. I loved those flowers, they meant a lot to me. The first proper bouquet Michael has given me... *sigh*
Anyways - I am off to bed now! I cannot believe how much I have been rambling!
Oh, and P.S. Michael's mum suggested I write about the disappearing objects in my room. Except that I should make it faeries. I like faeries. I think I will take her up on the idea! Look for more developpements on that soon! ;-D
Monday, August 2, 2010
In which a wormhole has appeared
I have come to the conclusion that there is a wormhole in my bedroom. Precisely, it is an invisible, perfectly unnoticeable, ten square inch little portal to a parallel universe. I have also concluded that said wormhole is precisely five inches away from my bed, right beside my bedside table.
Now, you may want to ask: "how does one discover a portal into alternate universes when it is invisible and hidden in such an inconspicuous location?" I shall tell you... I am brilliant! That is why. No, in all seriousness (or as serious as this post can be... which is not very...), here is the story.
Last night, I was reading that wonderful book I had mentioned to you before; the wittily written one about writing fantasy. There was even a draft for a story I am writing concealed within the pages of the book. After reading it last night, I made the gargantuan mistake of putting the book down by my bedside and, in doing so, placing it exactly (however inadvertently) into the wormhole! Indeed, by morning, the book and my draft were absolutely nowhere to be found! Even when I came back from work, I searched again... still no sign of any book!
Now, I know that some people (like mum) would argue that it is not surprising that I lose things in my room because "it is so messy!" Well, let me tell you that, despite the rest of my room being messy, my bedside is always kept well organized, because that is where I leave the precious books I read as well as my computer. And I SWEAR that is where I put my book down last night (where I always put my books).
Nonetheless, I ransacked my bedside area as well as the rest of my chaotic bedroom, sadly to no avail. The book just refused to be found. Thus, I concluded that a wormhole must have formed overnight...
My suspicions about the wormhole were confirmed a few minutes later, when I dropped an object at my bedside and was unable to find it. And I bent down to pick it up immediately after it fell, so unless inanimate objects have developed the ability to grow legs or the ability to travel at extremely high speeds, there is not way it could have just vanished... except for the wormhole theory. I wonder where the things that fall into the wormhole go? A parallel universe? Or maybe just the good old anime hammer-space? Anyways, I hope to see my lost items again soon, and I will be sure to avoid the wormhole (or I might just jump right into it... I am still debating on what I ought to do...)
In other news, the CBC television came by at work today. With cameras! Check your national news channels tonight, I just might be on TV. However, I am just in the very far background, working at my counter. Thank God for that, really, because it is not for any good news that the CBC showed up. It turns out that there is a video on youtube where a young agent let veiled women (wearing a chador) board the flight without asking them to remove their veils. This has sparked many outrageous headlines about how Air Canada has embarrassed themselves with lax security measures. It has caused quite the uproar. I do not see why... The women were from Saudi Arabia, where it is quite legal to have a passport photo WITH VEIL in your passeport. So whether you remove it or not in front of the agent makes no difference, because you are wearing a veil on your photo. On top of that, the agents that were on the scene said that they were transparent veils, so asking to remove them would have been rather pointless. Also, there are so many security checks throughout the airport that, by the time someone gets to boarding, they have been inspected enough to confirm their identity. I feel bad for the agent. I know her and she is a temp, like myself...
The poor agent was being filmed by a passenger without her knowledge of it and he subsequently posted the video on youtube. That passenger completely disregarding common decency and respect and I do believe that he must have violated some human rights somewhere, because the agent never agreed to being filmed! And how in the world was he allowed to film in there? To be fair, with all the cellphones with cameras and iPods that can take videos, it is hard to tell nowadays whether someone is filming something... But, if it is illegal to take photos inside a department store because it is deemed a security breach, then how can someone be allowed to FILM in an area like the airport?? I think this passenger should be sanctionned! And severely! But no one on the news sees the passenger as the wrongdoer. But obviously his flight landed without a hitch, if he was able to post the offensive video on youtube! Here is the video, just by the way... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAB1GffSSZc
Now that you have watched the video, I hope you understand why I take offense. Clearly, this was all filmed for one sole purpose... Muslim Bashing! The jerk who took this clearly disliked muslims! No... the woman did not go through unchecked! She got checked at at least two security points before! Also, it is common practice that only one person hands in all the passports when a family or group of friends are traveling together. But nobody ever complains if they are not muslim... And have you seen how this is filmed? And the offensive written comments? I mean, it is done on purpose to make us look bad. You cannot even see below the people's faces. So maybe they did hand in their passports individually after all! The insufficient moron who posted this just really disliked muslims and found a new way to slander their religion... as well as breach human rights by illegally filming someone and bashing our airline to boot! What a complete *@&$%!##!! There. I said it. You take a guess at what that word was.
Anyways, what that guy posted on youtube is much, much worse than those kids who would post videos of their profs on youtube when their profs knew nothing about it (which is also a horrible practice!). But the posting of teachers on duty on facebook is much more frowned upon than this horrid video! It makes me really, bloody, freakin' ANGRY!
Oh, and for all my readers who are not my beloved Michael, I am aware that my previous post was super mushy lovey-dovey. But that is just the way I am and just how much I love Michael. So just deal with the mushy!! XD
Oh, and before I go, I found an interesting intrigue at the airport today. Two weeks ago, a goth couple on the bus grossed me out particularly. They had arrived on a flight from Paris and were both from France. They were gross because they were kissing in a most un-sexy way: tongue out and ready to swallow each other's mouths long before they were actually in reach of one another! Anyways, the goth girl from that couple, who I would recognize anywhere because she wore the ugliest nose-ring I had ever seen (and she was also uber-tall, toothpick thin and spoke in the snooty French accent and wore the same red-leopard print purse) was at the airport again. With another guy. And they were kissing in the same disgusting way!! And I can guarantee it was another guy because this one was uglier than the first!! What interesting (???) intrigue! lol
Anyways... that is all for today. Hope it makes up for last night's post, lol!
Now, you may want to ask: "how does one discover a portal into alternate universes when it is invisible and hidden in such an inconspicuous location?" I shall tell you... I am brilliant! That is why. No, in all seriousness (or as serious as this post can be... which is not very...), here is the story.
Last night, I was reading that wonderful book I had mentioned to you before; the wittily written one about writing fantasy. There was even a draft for a story I am writing concealed within the pages of the book. After reading it last night, I made the gargantuan mistake of putting the book down by my bedside and, in doing so, placing it exactly (however inadvertently) into the wormhole! Indeed, by morning, the book and my draft were absolutely nowhere to be found! Even when I came back from work, I searched again... still no sign of any book!
Now, I know that some people (like mum) would argue that it is not surprising that I lose things in my room because "it is so messy!" Well, let me tell you that, despite the rest of my room being messy, my bedside is always kept well organized, because that is where I leave the precious books I read as well as my computer. And I SWEAR that is where I put my book down last night (where I always put my books).
Nonetheless, I ransacked my bedside area as well as the rest of my chaotic bedroom, sadly to no avail. The book just refused to be found. Thus, I concluded that a wormhole must have formed overnight...
My suspicions about the wormhole were confirmed a few minutes later, when I dropped an object at my bedside and was unable to find it. And I bent down to pick it up immediately after it fell, so unless inanimate objects have developed the ability to grow legs or the ability to travel at extremely high speeds, there is not way it could have just vanished... except for the wormhole theory. I wonder where the things that fall into the wormhole go? A parallel universe? Or maybe just the good old anime hammer-space? Anyways, I hope to see my lost items again soon, and I will be sure to avoid the wormhole (or I might just jump right into it... I am still debating on what I ought to do...)
In other news, the CBC television came by at work today. With cameras! Check your national news channels tonight, I just might be on TV. However, I am just in the very far background, working at my counter. Thank God for that, really, because it is not for any good news that the CBC showed up. It turns out that there is a video on youtube where a young agent let veiled women (wearing a chador) board the flight without asking them to remove their veils. This has sparked many outrageous headlines about how Air Canada has embarrassed themselves with lax security measures. It has caused quite the uproar. I do not see why... The women were from Saudi Arabia, where it is quite legal to have a passport photo WITH VEIL in your passeport. So whether you remove it or not in front of the agent makes no difference, because you are wearing a veil on your photo. On top of that, the agents that were on the scene said that they were transparent veils, so asking to remove them would have been rather pointless. Also, there are so many security checks throughout the airport that, by the time someone gets to boarding, they have been inspected enough to confirm their identity. I feel bad for the agent. I know her and she is a temp, like myself...
The poor agent was being filmed by a passenger without her knowledge of it and he subsequently posted the video on youtube. That passenger completely disregarding common decency and respect and I do believe that he must have violated some human rights somewhere, because the agent never agreed to being filmed! And how in the world was he allowed to film in there? To be fair, with all the cellphones with cameras and iPods that can take videos, it is hard to tell nowadays whether someone is filming something... But, if it is illegal to take photos inside a department store because it is deemed a security breach, then how can someone be allowed to FILM in an area like the airport?? I think this passenger should be sanctionned! And severely! But no one on the news sees the passenger as the wrongdoer. But obviously his flight landed without a hitch, if he was able to post the offensive video on youtube! Here is the video, just by the way... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAB1GffSSZc
Now that you have watched the video, I hope you understand why I take offense. Clearly, this was all filmed for one sole purpose... Muslim Bashing! The jerk who took this clearly disliked muslims! No... the woman did not go through unchecked! She got checked at at least two security points before! Also, it is common practice that only one person hands in all the passports when a family or group of friends are traveling together. But nobody ever complains if they are not muslim... And have you seen how this is filmed? And the offensive written comments? I mean, it is done on purpose to make us look bad. You cannot even see below the people's faces. So maybe they did hand in their passports individually after all! The insufficient moron who posted this just really disliked muslims and found a new way to slander their religion... as well as breach human rights by illegally filming someone and bashing our airline to boot! What a complete *@&$%!##!! There. I said it. You take a guess at what that word was.
Anyways, what that guy posted on youtube is much, much worse than those kids who would post videos of their profs on youtube when their profs knew nothing about it (which is also a horrible practice!). But the posting of teachers on duty on facebook is much more frowned upon than this horrid video! It makes me really, bloody, freakin' ANGRY!
Oh, and for all my readers who are not my beloved Michael, I am aware that my previous post was super mushy lovey-dovey. But that is just the way I am and just how much I love Michael. So just deal with the mushy!! XD
Oh, and before I go, I found an interesting intrigue at the airport today. Two weeks ago, a goth couple on the bus grossed me out particularly. They had arrived on a flight from Paris and were both from France. They were gross because they were kissing in a most un-sexy way: tongue out and ready to swallow each other's mouths long before they were actually in reach of one another! Anyways, the goth girl from that couple, who I would recognize anywhere because she wore the ugliest nose-ring I had ever seen (and she was also uber-tall, toothpick thin and spoke in the snooty French accent and wore the same red-leopard print purse) was at the airport again. With another guy. And they were kissing in the same disgusting way!! And I can guarantee it was another guy because this one was uglier than the first!! What interesting (???) intrigue! lol
Anyways... that is all for today. Hope it makes up for last night's post, lol!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
In which the stairs have vanished
Do you remember the vanishing stairs in the Harry Potter books? If you do not, I strongly suggest re-reading book 4, The Goblet of Fire, where the vanishing step plays an important part because Harry gets stuck in it, under his invisibility cloak, while several professors pass by... (believe it or not, I have not read this book in 2 years and can remember every detail of it...). Well, this is not the type of "vanishing stairs" I wish to talk about.
I was instead referring to the staircase outside my apartment door. As I came back from work this evening, the stairs were just GONE! I kid you not. I stood there, standing about six or seven feet beneath the door of my home, looking up at it; musing about how the post-man will be able to place the mail in the little mailbox now affixed ten feet away from the ground.
I called up my roommate and told her that the stairs were gone. She thought I was joking. Despite her being at home all day, she had never noticed that someone had started rennovating the stairs outside. I could not believe it! Thank God they nailed a thick board in front of the door to keep us from opening it... otherwise, I fear my dear roommate would have just walked out and plummeted a few feet! That would have hurt.
Now, I am not really surprised, as our outdoor staircase was really rusty and sketchy and needed urgent replacing. I just wish I had had a little bit of forewarning. It did a bit of a double-take and having to climb up the creepy staircase leading to my apartment's backdoor was not amusing... not in the dark, at least.
In other news, I had the dumbest passenger ever walk up to me today. I still cannot believe the question I was asked. Many passengers will ask you very obvious questions... but this one...!
Feel free to judge for yourselves:
"So, tell me... West Jet and Air France... It's the same thing, right?"
...
EXCUSE ME?! How in the world did you come to THAT conclusion!! They do not even service the same country!! They do not even sound similar!! I was a little too shocked to answer. When I finally came back to my senses, I asked her to clarify. When she just repeated the same question, I sent her to the information counter of the airport. I feel sorry for the people working there - but that woman just broke my brain too much...
I also got some chocolate from Russians, who just gave me chocolate as a thank you gift for checking them in... I was rather flattered. And I also got a huge bottle of Appleton Estate Rum (my favourite!) from a passenger who could not pass security with it. Surprisingly, the woman was disappointed, but not angry. She did not even argue! She just said I could have it! Usually, they argue forever before they hand over their liquids/alcohol. She did not make a fuss at all. I was really grateful for that. I do feel bad though, because all these people are buying duty-free in one country, and then, in the next country, when they are passing security, they cannot go through with the merchandise... Stupid system! And this is not the airlines' fault! This is a decision the airports have taken... *sigh* Poor passengers!
In yet some other news, I am reading an AMAZING book about writing fantasy novels. It does not so much tell you HOW to write, so much as give you tips on what to remember and what to look for if you intend to get published. However, despite not being a novel, it is very handsomely written; every page is filled with great wit and it makes me laugh a great deal. Here is my favourite quote from it; it is from the chapter on "Ideas" and where said ideas come from:
Go ahead and ask me the dumbest question a writer can be asked:
"DUHH, WHERE D'YA GETCHER IDEAS?"
My answer is always the same - since there is no answer to this query. At least, neither Plato nor Socrates nor Shakespeare could make the codification. When some jamook asks me this one (thereby revealing him/herself to be a person who has about as much imaginative muscle as a head of lettuce) I always smile prettily and answer, "Schenectady."
And when the jamook looks at me quizzically, and scratches head with hairy hand, I add: "Oh, sure. There's a swell Idea Service in Schenectady; and every week I send 'em twenty-five bucks; and every week they send me a fresh six-pak of ideas."
And wouldja believe it... there is always some insufficient asshole who asks me for the address.
- Harlan Ellison
Great quote, is it not? ^_^ It reminds me of high-school and the dim-wittedness of some of the students. I remember when the teacher would ask us to write a short-story for class and some would react saying: "what, we have to come up with an idea?"... I cannot believe how many unimmaginative people are out there. It makes me despair for the state of the world. *sigh*
But this book has made me want to pick up writing again. Who knows, maybe I will finally finish a novel!!
As for the cosplay... it is advancing well, but slowly. I am so tired at the end of a day at work that I am having trouble sewing more than a bit at a time. Tonight, I completed the bustle and the right sleeve. Tomorrow I will attack the left sleeve. And then I will have the hood left to sew. Hopefully, I will not hit any snags and then the cosplay will be finished. If so, then I am done on Monday!! (I am praying that this will happen!)
And, before I leave for bed, I want to say that, for some odd reason, it is much easier to be without Michael this summer than the last. I do not feel as desperate or as distraught. Yes, I feel a little sad and a little lonely, but since the day he has left, it is not nearly as bad. Perhaps it is because work tires me out. If you are reading this, Michael, my love, then do not think I am not missing you! I miss you dearly! And I love you very much! I am just not crying every night anymore... like I used to last year. It is very hard to fall asleep though... it feels odd without you... *pout* I miss you!! Also, Michael called me first thing in the morning when he got to Vienna. Unfortunately, I have not heard from him at all since. I am getting a little frustrated by that... I want to hear from him!
Anyways - hoping Michael reads this: many hugs and kisses, and I am thinking of you.
To my other readers: I am thinking of you too, though in a very different manner!
Goodnight!
I was instead referring to the staircase outside my apartment door. As I came back from work this evening, the stairs were just GONE! I kid you not. I stood there, standing about six or seven feet beneath the door of my home, looking up at it; musing about how the post-man will be able to place the mail in the little mailbox now affixed ten feet away from the ground.
I called up my roommate and told her that the stairs were gone. She thought I was joking. Despite her being at home all day, she had never noticed that someone had started rennovating the stairs outside. I could not believe it! Thank God they nailed a thick board in front of the door to keep us from opening it... otherwise, I fear my dear roommate would have just walked out and plummeted a few feet! That would have hurt.
Now, I am not really surprised, as our outdoor staircase was really rusty and sketchy and needed urgent replacing. I just wish I had had a little bit of forewarning. It did a bit of a double-take and having to climb up the creepy staircase leading to my apartment's backdoor was not amusing... not in the dark, at least.
In other news, I had the dumbest passenger ever walk up to me today. I still cannot believe the question I was asked. Many passengers will ask you very obvious questions... but this one...!
Feel free to judge for yourselves:
"So, tell me... West Jet and Air France... It's the same thing, right?"
...
EXCUSE ME?! How in the world did you come to THAT conclusion!! They do not even service the same country!! They do not even sound similar!! I was a little too shocked to answer. When I finally came back to my senses, I asked her to clarify. When she just repeated the same question, I sent her to the information counter of the airport. I feel sorry for the people working there - but that woman just broke my brain too much...
I also got some chocolate from Russians, who just gave me chocolate as a thank you gift for checking them in... I was rather flattered. And I also got a huge bottle of Appleton Estate Rum (my favourite!) from a passenger who could not pass security with it. Surprisingly, the woman was disappointed, but not angry. She did not even argue! She just said I could have it! Usually, they argue forever before they hand over their liquids/alcohol. She did not make a fuss at all. I was really grateful for that. I do feel bad though, because all these people are buying duty-free in one country, and then, in the next country, when they are passing security, they cannot go through with the merchandise... Stupid system! And this is not the airlines' fault! This is a decision the airports have taken... *sigh* Poor passengers!
In yet some other news, I am reading an AMAZING book about writing fantasy novels. It does not so much tell you HOW to write, so much as give you tips on what to remember and what to look for if you intend to get published. However, despite not being a novel, it is very handsomely written; every page is filled with great wit and it makes me laugh a great deal. Here is my favourite quote from it; it is from the chapter on "Ideas" and where said ideas come from:
Go ahead and ask me the dumbest question a writer can be asked:
"DUHH, WHERE D'YA GETCHER IDEAS?"
My answer is always the same - since there is no answer to this query. At least, neither Plato nor Socrates nor Shakespeare could make the codification. When some jamook asks me this one (thereby revealing him/herself to be a person who has about as much imaginative muscle as a head of lettuce) I always smile prettily and answer, "Schenectady."
And when the jamook looks at me quizzically, and scratches head with hairy hand, I add: "Oh, sure. There's a swell Idea Service in Schenectady; and every week I send 'em twenty-five bucks; and every week they send me a fresh six-pak of ideas."
And wouldja believe it... there is always some insufficient asshole who asks me for the address.
- Harlan Ellison
Great quote, is it not? ^_^ It reminds me of high-school and the dim-wittedness of some of the students. I remember when the teacher would ask us to write a short-story for class and some would react saying: "what, we have to come up with an idea?"... I cannot believe how many unimmaginative people are out there. It makes me despair for the state of the world. *sigh*
But this book has made me want to pick up writing again. Who knows, maybe I will finally finish a novel!!
As for the cosplay... it is advancing well, but slowly. I am so tired at the end of a day at work that I am having trouble sewing more than a bit at a time. Tonight, I completed the bustle and the right sleeve. Tomorrow I will attack the left sleeve. And then I will have the hood left to sew. Hopefully, I will not hit any snags and then the cosplay will be finished. If so, then I am done on Monday!! (I am praying that this will happen!)
And, before I leave for bed, I want to say that, for some odd reason, it is much easier to be without Michael this summer than the last. I do not feel as desperate or as distraught. Yes, I feel a little sad and a little lonely, but since the day he has left, it is not nearly as bad. Perhaps it is because work tires me out. If you are reading this, Michael, my love, then do not think I am not missing you! I miss you dearly! And I love you very much! I am just not crying every night anymore... like I used to last year. It is very hard to fall asleep though... it feels odd without you... *pout* I miss you!! Also, Michael called me first thing in the morning when he got to Vienna. Unfortunately, I have not heard from him at all since. I am getting a little frustrated by that... I want to hear from him!
Anyways - hoping Michael reads this: many hugs and kisses, and I am thinking of you.
To my other readers: I am thinking of you too, though in a very different manner!
Goodnight!
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Germany Chronicles 4 (Final Chapter) - In which a visit was paid to Wiesbaden
Sorry for the fact that this post did not come as soon as I had hoped (or expected it to). The reason is quite simple: after my last post, I did not get any more access to the Internet. My aunt Uli (short for Ulrike) did not have any Internet at home and I did not have time to go before leaving Bavaria... Yet, there is lots (lots and lots) to say. So be prepared for a very long post.
Before anything, you must know that I am back in Canada. *sigh* Yes, back already. It makes me a little sad to have left the peace, beauty and serenity of Germany (for once I actually felt stress-free!), but it is also good to be returning to sunshine (though it is a little too hot here in Montreal). I did miss the sun: of the 20 days we spent in Germany overall, only ONE day was sunny. ONE! It was not fair! I had wanted to show Michael so many things, but the stupid rain (literally) drowned my marvelous plans. But we had loads of fun anyway...
I need to get down to my adventures in Germany now, or you'll find yourself facing the never-ending post (as opposed to the story of the same type).
Since the last post, the rain only got worse in Germany and there was no hope at all of ever seeing our trip turn sunny. Though, fun fact, during the only day of sun, Michael actually caught a sunburn (tee hee!... no, that was not funny!). Anyhow, on the Thursday, it was Ascension. So we went to the Catholic Church (of beautiful baroque fashioning) and sat through an hour of service. The service was sung (gregorian-style, by the priest!) and they had a wonderful choir and an ORCHESTRA (on top of the organ) that played Mozart for the festivities of Ascension. Also, the hunters (Schuetzen) of the town came in full traditional garb to the Church in order to get a blessing for the start of the hunting season. It was interesting and wonderful... Though cold... Churches are not heated and they can be a little draughty... But it was great anyway... I believe that the service we saw is not that different from the services they had back when the Church was originally built. Oh, and allow me to mention that the people of Oberammergau are excessively Christian. Some go to church every day. I kid you not: there are two services a day, so if you feel REALLY pious, you can go TWICE! It boggled my mind: you do not ever see that here in Canada...
On the Friday, we went to see the Passion Play. This is very interesting: not only is pretty much all of Oberammergau involved in this event, but also it attracts thousands of tourists a day, mostly because they are doing a sort of pilgrimage to the small-town in order to view this religious event. There is a whole history behind the play: in 1633, the Black Plague hit the town of Oberammergau really hard. So, the people of town got together and wrote (and signed) an oath to God that, if the Plague would go and if there were no more victims of the illness, they would present a Passion Play in thanks every decade. When 1634 came about, there had been no more victims at all, and thus the first Passion Play tradition was presented and a whole tradition began. Michael and I went to the Oberammergau museum and had a look of the chronology of the events. They even still have the signed oath to God that they would present it. It was decided, though, that the play would be presented at the beginning of every decade, which is why in 2010 we were graced with a wonderful presentation. It was fabulous (though cold: I pitied the guy playing Jesus who had to hang on the cross half-naked for 20 minutes!). It was a great presentation and, to my delight, Michael loved it!
On Saturday, we went to visit castle Neuschwanstein, the famous castle built by Ludwig II of Bavaria that inspired the Disney aberration... Much better than Disney World any day, because this castle is the real deal! I could have strangled the stupid American tourist who stood beside me while looking up at the castle. He said: "It looks really fake, like it was built by Disney!" My head shot round at this and I had to tell him that Disney was inspired by this breathtaking castle for his own trademark castle. The guy replied: "It looks plasticky anyway," a comment which made me seethe because it is OBVIOUSLY stone! Michael sort of dragged me away before I killed anyone. It was super beautiful, awe-inspiring and amazing... as always... But, also, as always, it is crowded - no, flooded - by moronic tourists, which kind of ruins the beauty of it for you. The rain also put a bit of a damper on things. Anyways... my favourite part of the castle is the courtyard at the front. It has a fabulous design and Saint-George the Dragon Killer is painted on the main wall. It is absolutely wonderful - my kind of fairytale castle. Disney is worth nothing against it. ... Bloody tourist!
Michael and I spent the Sunday traveling up to Wiesbaden. Now, Wiesbaden is a city much farther to the north than Bavaria, not so far away from Frankfurt. We went there because that is where my aunt lives (in the most gorgeous apartment I have EVER seen! It would make even the gods jealous! I kid you not!). We got up at 5 a.m. (German time) to take a train (and switch trains a couple of time) and we basically were on a five and a half hour train trip to the north. It was a fun trip, though our compartment was PACKED with Chinese people. I do not know for sure, but I think they were a whole family or something traveling together, because they all seemed to know each other. My issue with them was that they were being very loud and eating smelly foods (the lady behind me was feasting on a box of hard-boiled eggs! eeek!)
Wiesbaden was beautiful! It is a gorgeous city with a Roman wall that dates back to the 4th Century A.D. It was impressive! So many vestiges left by the Romans! Also, Wiesbaden is on top of a great number of hot springs, so you can smell the sulfur in the hot water. They have fabulous healing baths there. The hot springs are naturally 66 degrees (Celsius)... which is really, REALLY hot if you put your hand beneath it. We also went on to the Neroberg (a pretty mountain with a vineyard and a Russian Orthodox Church (also a tomb)). There was an amphitheater up there and Michael took the occasion to serenade me in Italian from the bottom of the amphitheater... His voice rose up so beautifully, he even got applause from the people around. Michael also found himself a new girlfriend: a blood-hound named Berta. She was super cute, but I was getting jealous of all the attention Michael was giving her. We also went along the Rhine a little, Michael enjoyed skipping stones there and I enjoyed the solitary swan swimming on the river. We finished off our evening around a bottle of wine at an Italian restaurant with my aunt, my dad, and my uncle. It was very enjoyable. I ended up with a flush to my cheeks caused by the wine and stories were told around the table that I hope will only come up again when I get married. I will say no more about these.
Also, I have determined I would live in Wiesbaden later... Not only is is a drop-dead gorgeous city, but I gave me the biggest squee of all. They had a store there, called the Korsetterie!!! *Insert biggest fangirlish squee you can imagine here* I could not buy any corsets because they were too expensive, but they were also GORGEOUS. Some were designs by Bibian Blue, my favourite corset designer. I could live anywhere with such a store...
And that's how the trip concluded. Wonderful nights eating Italian... My dad and my uncle brought us back to Canada on Thursday the 20th. It was good to be back in the sun, but I could have stayed longer. Now I need to stress out about work and about moving and stuff... Not looking forward to the move at all actually - I do not feel like dismantling my Ikea wardrobe AGAIN!
Also, I went up North to my dad's cottage upon my return to Canada. My father promptly stepped on my glasses which have faithfully served me for five years. Catastrophe appalling! It was not a great start to my day, if I may put it that way. So now I'll be moving using crazy-glued glasses and I am going out to buy new ones next week... I hope they'll have nice ones.
I'm looking forward to the move being over. Now that I am back in Canada, you can expect more frequent posts. Also, I shall be posting pictures very VERY soon. I still have to sort through them though: I have about 2200 of them! I cannot wait to show them off!
And for now, my faithful readers, that is it. I hope this has put at least a glimpse of a smile on your lips. I am, alas, exhausted: the jet-lag has not been merciful to me. Blog you later!
P.S. Michael and I just finished Power of Three by Diana Wynne Jones and it was AWESOME! You should read it; it's loads of fun!
Before anything, you must know that I am back in Canada. *sigh* Yes, back already. It makes me a little sad to have left the peace, beauty and serenity of Germany (for once I actually felt stress-free!), but it is also good to be returning to sunshine (though it is a little too hot here in Montreal). I did miss the sun: of the 20 days we spent in Germany overall, only ONE day was sunny. ONE! It was not fair! I had wanted to show Michael so many things, but the stupid rain (literally) drowned my marvelous plans. But we had loads of fun anyway...
I need to get down to my adventures in Germany now, or you'll find yourself facing the never-ending post (as opposed to the story of the same type).
Since the last post, the rain only got worse in Germany and there was no hope at all of ever seeing our trip turn sunny. Though, fun fact, during the only day of sun, Michael actually caught a sunburn (tee hee!... no, that was not funny!). Anyhow, on the Thursday, it was Ascension. So we went to the Catholic Church (of beautiful baroque fashioning) and sat through an hour of service. The service was sung (gregorian-style, by the priest!) and they had a wonderful choir and an ORCHESTRA (on top of the organ) that played Mozart for the festivities of Ascension. Also, the hunters (Schuetzen) of the town came in full traditional garb to the Church in order to get a blessing for the start of the hunting season. It was interesting and wonderful... Though cold... Churches are not heated and they can be a little draughty... But it was great anyway... I believe that the service we saw is not that different from the services they had back when the Church was originally built. Oh, and allow me to mention that the people of Oberammergau are excessively Christian. Some go to church every day. I kid you not: there are two services a day, so if you feel REALLY pious, you can go TWICE! It boggled my mind: you do not ever see that here in Canada...
On the Friday, we went to see the Passion Play. This is very interesting: not only is pretty much all of Oberammergau involved in this event, but also it attracts thousands of tourists a day, mostly because they are doing a sort of pilgrimage to the small-town in order to view this religious event. There is a whole history behind the play: in 1633, the Black Plague hit the town of Oberammergau really hard. So, the people of town got together and wrote (and signed) an oath to God that, if the Plague would go and if there were no more victims of the illness, they would present a Passion Play in thanks every decade. When 1634 came about, there had been no more victims at all, and thus the first Passion Play tradition was presented and a whole tradition began. Michael and I went to the Oberammergau museum and had a look of the chronology of the events. They even still have the signed oath to God that they would present it. It was decided, though, that the play would be presented at the beginning of every decade, which is why in 2010 we were graced with a wonderful presentation. It was fabulous (though cold: I pitied the guy playing Jesus who had to hang on the cross half-naked for 20 minutes!). It was a great presentation and, to my delight, Michael loved it!
On Saturday, we went to visit castle Neuschwanstein, the famous castle built by Ludwig II of Bavaria that inspired the Disney aberration... Much better than Disney World any day, because this castle is the real deal! I could have strangled the stupid American tourist who stood beside me while looking up at the castle. He said: "It looks really fake, like it was built by Disney!" My head shot round at this and I had to tell him that Disney was inspired by this breathtaking castle for his own trademark castle. The guy replied: "It looks plasticky anyway," a comment which made me seethe because it is OBVIOUSLY stone! Michael sort of dragged me away before I killed anyone. It was super beautiful, awe-inspiring and amazing... as always... But, also, as always, it is crowded - no, flooded - by moronic tourists, which kind of ruins the beauty of it for you. The rain also put a bit of a damper on things. Anyways... my favourite part of the castle is the courtyard at the front. It has a fabulous design and Saint-George the Dragon Killer is painted on the main wall. It is absolutely wonderful - my kind of fairytale castle. Disney is worth nothing against it. ... Bloody tourist!
Michael and I spent the Sunday traveling up to Wiesbaden. Now, Wiesbaden is a city much farther to the north than Bavaria, not so far away from Frankfurt. We went there because that is where my aunt lives (in the most gorgeous apartment I have EVER seen! It would make even the gods jealous! I kid you not!). We got up at 5 a.m. (German time) to take a train (and switch trains a couple of time) and we basically were on a five and a half hour train trip to the north. It was a fun trip, though our compartment was PACKED with Chinese people. I do not know for sure, but I think they were a whole family or something traveling together, because they all seemed to know each other. My issue with them was that they were being very loud and eating smelly foods (the lady behind me was feasting on a box of hard-boiled eggs! eeek!)
Wiesbaden was beautiful! It is a gorgeous city with a Roman wall that dates back to the 4th Century A.D. It was impressive! So many vestiges left by the Romans! Also, Wiesbaden is on top of a great number of hot springs, so you can smell the sulfur in the hot water. They have fabulous healing baths there. The hot springs are naturally 66 degrees (Celsius)... which is really, REALLY hot if you put your hand beneath it. We also went on to the Neroberg (a pretty mountain with a vineyard and a Russian Orthodox Church (also a tomb)). There was an amphitheater up there and Michael took the occasion to serenade me in Italian from the bottom of the amphitheater... His voice rose up so beautifully, he even got applause from the people around. Michael also found himself a new girlfriend: a blood-hound named Berta. She was super cute, but I was getting jealous of all the attention Michael was giving her. We also went along the Rhine a little, Michael enjoyed skipping stones there and I enjoyed the solitary swan swimming on the river. We finished off our evening around a bottle of wine at an Italian restaurant with my aunt, my dad, and my uncle. It was very enjoyable. I ended up with a flush to my cheeks caused by the wine and stories were told around the table that I hope will only come up again when I get married. I will say no more about these.
Also, I have determined I would live in Wiesbaden later... Not only is is a drop-dead gorgeous city, but I gave me the biggest squee of all. They had a store there, called the Korsetterie!!! *Insert biggest fangirlish squee you can imagine here* I could not buy any corsets because they were too expensive, but they were also GORGEOUS. Some were designs by Bibian Blue, my favourite corset designer. I could live anywhere with such a store...
And that's how the trip concluded. Wonderful nights eating Italian... My dad and my uncle brought us back to Canada on Thursday the 20th. It was good to be back in the sun, but I could have stayed longer. Now I need to stress out about work and about moving and stuff... Not looking forward to the move at all actually - I do not feel like dismantling my Ikea wardrobe AGAIN!
Also, I went up North to my dad's cottage upon my return to Canada. My father promptly stepped on my glasses which have faithfully served me for five years. Catastrophe appalling! It was not a great start to my day, if I may put it that way. So now I'll be moving using crazy-glued glasses and I am going out to buy new ones next week... I hope they'll have nice ones.
I'm looking forward to the move being over. Now that I am back in Canada, you can expect more frequent posts. Also, I shall be posting pictures very VERY soon. I still have to sort through them though: I have about 2200 of them! I cannot wait to show them off!
And for now, my faithful readers, that is it. I hope this has put at least a glimpse of a smile on your lips. I am, alas, exhausted: the jet-lag has not been merciful to me. Blog you later!
P.S. Michael and I just finished Power of Three by Diana Wynne Jones and it was AWESOME! You should read it; it's loads of fun!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Chapter 12 - In which the best book in world history has been unearthed
Yes, you got me... "unearthed!"
Note: The post that follows should put a smile on your face.
So, I was out at the Eaton Center today, in order to have some prints of my latest facebook pictures to send to family and grandparents in Germany. Since I selected the "print in 1 hour" option, I had to kill one full hour at the mall (can you IMAGINE???)
Now, what to do when you have an hour to kill and no money to spend? Well, personally, I like to resort to a trick known only to us literature majors and bookworms (generally all the same people anyway): I go to the bookstore. Not with any intention of purchase. I go to either a) find out if there are any new awesome books and sit down in a shady corner to read or b) to talk about books with the employees.
And so, I set off for Indigo, my favourite bookstore in all of downtown Montreal (and Toronto). They have computers there, where you can type in the name of a book, author, etc. and find whether they've got it in stock (I suppose they put that in to keep people from over-harrassing employees... but, for some reason, the employees get harrassed anyway). On that computer, I typed in the name of my favourite author: Diana Wynne Jones. Now, most of the books that showed up in my search and were available in store were books that I already owned... except for one.
The Tough Guide to Fantasy Land.
Yes, that is the title of the ultimate awesome book of awesomeness! It is rather small, despite being a hardcover book: only 6 1/2 inches by 4 7/8 inches and only 1 1/4 inch thick. It has a nice glossy paper cover on top of the red cloth-bound harcover, with lots of colours to attract a potential reader's straying attention. The computer said it had three copies left in it's "Bargain Books" section. Well, that section is a true maze of books; books of all kinds, shapes and sizes are piled in tottering piles one atop the other on a total of about 12 tables and 1 measly row of shelves. Try finding a book there: not an easy task. Especially not when your book is as small as this one. But I didn't know that yet. I just looked at the mountains and towers and ruins of books and wondered whether I would ever find those three copies.
So I went to my favourite reference person in all of the Indigo store. Her name is Frankie. She's an older lady, with gray hair, and about a head shorter than me. She's really nice and loves books as much as I do. And so we both set off on the quest for this fantastic book. We found it, after about half an hour of searching, disecting and demolishing the piles of books. It turned out that Diana Wynne Jones' books were neatly tucked away in a corner of the set of shelves, but they were so small that I had overseen them... on several occasions. This is why the book has been "unearthed."
Now, about the book. Why is it the best ever? Because, without even opening the first page, you break into the greatest fit of giggles you'll ever experience in your life.
First, the cover. It looks like this (illustrated by Douglas Carrel).
Awesome, no? Then comes the awesome title: The Tough Guide to Fantasy Land, and the even better subtitle: "Actually very little to do with The Lord of the Rings". And the name of Dianna Wynne Jones in happy bright yellow letters.
The back cover, warning Lord of the Rings fans - this is genuinely hilarious, has "comments and critiques" about the book... The back cover is written as follows (parentheses are my own comments):
"An indispensable guide for anyone stuck in the realms of fantasy without a magic sword to call their own." - Terry Pratchett
"I've got a magic sword, actually, so I'll stick to that if you don't mind. Even if it is broken." - Aragorn son of Arathorn (awesome!!! *squees*)
"Would have been a lot more use on the quest than three Elven hairs." - Gimli son of Gloin (even better! *fan-girl scream*)
This may look like just a Gollancz parody, but Diana Wynne Jones is actually a really good author. Look:
"I'd vote for Dianna Wynne Jones as a British National Treasure." - Locus
"Most adults with taste have been reading her books for years." - Good Book Guide
Okay, back to me now. This sounds good (and funny) already, no? But if you look up the book summary, it's EVEN BETTER!! I won't recopy it, because people might start hating me for it, but I will state that one of the features included in the book is "A map (obviously)".
Needless to say, the end of my hour was killed off pretty quickly. I bought the book. It was five bucks (fine, 5.66$ with taxes), so no regrets - that's waaay affordable. I bought it and just sat down and started reading... and giggling so hard people must have thought I was completely, utterly nuts! - wait, I am that way already, aren't I? Oh well...
So yeah. AWESOME BOOK! It just makes my desire to go to the UK and give Diana Wynne Jones a huge-ass hug even greater! She is awesome, worship her like I do!
Oh, and buy the other two copies of the book if you can. It' really worth it!
Note: The post that follows should put a smile on your face.
So, I was out at the Eaton Center today, in order to have some prints of my latest facebook pictures to send to family and grandparents in Germany. Since I selected the "print in 1 hour" option, I had to kill one full hour at the mall (can you IMAGINE???)
Now, what to do when you have an hour to kill and no money to spend? Well, personally, I like to resort to a trick known only to us literature majors and bookworms (generally all the same people anyway): I go to the bookstore. Not with any intention of purchase. I go to either a) find out if there are any new awesome books and sit down in a shady corner to read or b) to talk about books with the employees.
And so, I set off for Indigo, my favourite bookstore in all of downtown Montreal (and Toronto). They have computers there, where you can type in the name of a book, author, etc. and find whether they've got it in stock (I suppose they put that in to keep people from over-harrassing employees... but, for some reason, the employees get harrassed anyway). On that computer, I typed in the name of my favourite author: Diana Wynne Jones. Now, most of the books that showed up in my search and were available in store were books that I already owned... except for one.
The Tough Guide to Fantasy Land.
Yes, that is the title of the ultimate awesome book of awesomeness! It is rather small, despite being a hardcover book: only 6 1/2 inches by 4 7/8 inches and only 1 1/4 inch thick. It has a nice glossy paper cover on top of the red cloth-bound harcover, with lots of colours to attract a potential reader's straying attention. The computer said it had three copies left in it's "Bargain Books" section. Well, that section is a true maze of books; books of all kinds, shapes and sizes are piled in tottering piles one atop the other on a total of about 12 tables and 1 measly row of shelves. Try finding a book there: not an easy task. Especially not when your book is as small as this one. But I didn't know that yet. I just looked at the mountains and towers and ruins of books and wondered whether I would ever find those three copies.
So I went to my favourite reference person in all of the Indigo store. Her name is Frankie. She's an older lady, with gray hair, and about a head shorter than me. She's really nice and loves books as much as I do. And so we both set off on the quest for this fantastic book. We found it, after about half an hour of searching, disecting and demolishing the piles of books. It turned out that Diana Wynne Jones' books were neatly tucked away in a corner of the set of shelves, but they were so small that I had overseen them... on several occasions. This is why the book has been "unearthed."
Now, about the book. Why is it the best ever? Because, without even opening the first page, you break into the greatest fit of giggles you'll ever experience in your life.
First, the cover. It looks like this (illustrated by Douglas Carrel).
Awesome, no? Then comes the awesome title: The Tough Guide to Fantasy Land, and the even better subtitle: "Actually very little to do with The Lord of the Rings". And the name of Dianna Wynne Jones in happy bright yellow letters.
The back cover, warning Lord of the Rings fans - this is genuinely hilarious, has "comments and critiques" about the book... The back cover is written as follows (parentheses are my own comments):
"An indispensable guide for anyone stuck in the realms of fantasy without a magic sword to call their own." - Terry Pratchett
"I've got a magic sword, actually, so I'll stick to that if you don't mind. Even if it is broken." - Aragorn son of Arathorn (awesome!!! *squees*)
"Would have been a lot more use on the quest than three Elven hairs." - Gimli son of Gloin (even better! *fan-girl scream*)
This may look like just a Gollancz parody, but Diana Wynne Jones is actually a really good author. Look:
"I'd vote for Dianna Wynne Jones as a British National Treasure." - Locus
"Most adults with taste have been reading her books for years." - Good Book Guide
Okay, back to me now. This sounds good (and funny) already, no? But if you look up the book summary, it's EVEN BETTER!! I won't recopy it, because people might start hating me for it, but I will state that one of the features included in the book is "A map (obviously)".
Needless to say, the end of my hour was killed off pretty quickly. I bought the book. It was five bucks (fine, 5.66$ with taxes), so no regrets - that's waaay affordable. I bought it and just sat down and started reading... and giggling so hard people must have thought I was completely, utterly nuts! - wait, I am that way already, aren't I? Oh well...
So yeah. AWESOME BOOK! It just makes my desire to go to the UK and give Diana Wynne Jones a huge-ass hug even greater! She is awesome, worship her like I do!
Oh, and buy the other two copies of the book if you can. It' really worth it!
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